Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

One terrifying occult horror tale from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primordial horror when guests become instruments in a devilish experiment. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish portrayal of survival and mythic evil that will reimagine horror this cool-weather season. Created by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and gothic thriller follows five individuals who come to imprisoned in a secluded lodge under the ominous will of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a antiquated ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be ensnared by a theatrical presentation that unites instinctive fear with mystical narratives, arriving on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a time-honored pillar in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the forces no longer arise from elsewhere, but rather from their core. This marks the most hidden element of the protagonists. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the tension becomes a relentless push-pull between moral forces.


In a abandoned wild, five adults find themselves stuck under the ghastly sway and curse of a uncanny woman. As the cast becomes unable to combat her influence, detached and targeted by evils unimaginable, they are made to confront their emotional phantoms while the deathwatch unceasingly ticks onward toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia mounts and bonds erode, demanding each protagonist to doubt their existence and the nature of autonomy itself. The cost accelerate with every breath, delivering a cinematic nightmare that connects spiritual fright with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to draw upon core terror, an entity older than civilization itself, operating within fragile psyche, and questioning a evil that forces self-examination when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant evoking something past sanity. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that metamorphosis is haunting because it is so unshielded.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving customers in all regions can survive this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has garnered over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, delivering the story to fans of fear everywhere.


Experience this bone-rattling trip into the unknown. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to explore these nightmarish insights about human nature.


For sneak peeks, filmmaker commentary, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across platforms and visit the official digital haunt.





U.S. horror’s major pivot: 2025 in focus U.S. release slate integrates primeval-possession lore, art-house nightmares, stacked beside franchise surges

Spanning survivor-centric dread suffused with mythic scripture all the way to franchise returns paired with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is tracking to be horror’s most layered in tandem with calculated campaign year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses stabilize the year with franchise anchors, simultaneously OTT services stack the fall with emerging auteurs in concert with old-world menace. In the indie lane, the art-house flank is riding the carry from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The fall stretch is the proving field, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, so 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The top end is active. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s distribution arm lights the fuse with a confident swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, inside today’s landscape. Led by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. targeting mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial heat flags it as potent.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma centered writing, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The follow up digs further into canon, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It drops in December, securing the winter cap.

Digital Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Series Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Emerging Currents

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror ascends again
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The 2026 terror release year: follow-ups, original films, plus A hectic Calendar geared toward goosebumps

Dek The incoming terror year crams immediately with a January bottleneck, following that unfolds through peak season, and pushing into the holidays, blending marquee clout, creative pitches, and savvy offsets. Studios with streamers are focusing on right-sized spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that position these films into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The horror marketplace has grown into the dependable release in programming grids, a segment that can grow when it catches and still protect the losses when it falls short. After the 2023 year demonstrated to decision-makers that low-to-mid budget pictures can drive the discourse, 2024 carried the beat with signature-voice projects and under-the-radar smashes. The run carried into 2025, where resurrections and elevated films made clear there is demand for many shades, from ongoing IP entries to director-led originals that carry overseas. The upshot for 2026 is a grid that appears tightly organized across the industry, with planned clusters, a harmony of household franchises and new packages, and a renewed attention on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium rental and subscription services.

Buyers contend the space now performs as a flex slot on the grid. The genre can arrive on most weekends, provide a sharp concept for previews and TikTok spots, and exceed norms with moviegoers that appear on advance nights and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the movie satisfies. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 plan shows belief in that equation. The slate opens with a stacked January stretch, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while reserving space for a October build that flows toward the fright window and into November. The calendar also reflects the deeper integration of indie arms and subscription services that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and scale up at the strategic time.

A further high-level trend is franchise tending across unified worlds and legacy IP. Studio teams are not just producing another sequel. They are moving to present story carry-over with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a re-angled tone or a ensemble decision that reconnects a next film to a initial period. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the marquee originals are prioritizing tactile craft, physical gags and site-specific worlds. That interplay hands 2026 a lively combination of known notes and unexpected turns, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight pushes that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the heart, setting it up as both a handoff and a rootsy relationship-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a legacy-leaning mode without repeating the last two entries’ sibling arc. Watch for a push built on franchise iconography, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after wide appeal through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever leads horror talk that spring.

Universal has three clear bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is tight, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that escalates into a deadly partner. The date positions it at the front of a thick month, with the studio’s marketing likely to revisit viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that blurs attachment and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a proper title to become an headline beat closer to the early tease. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as auteur events, with a concept-forward tease and a second wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning mix can feel premium on a efficient spend. Expect a splatter summer horror charge that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio places two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is marketing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both players and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around setting detail, and creature work, elements that can amplify PLF interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by historical precision and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus Features has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles flow to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, spooky hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival wins, confirming horror entries near their drops and staging as events launches with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and prompt platform moves that translates talk to trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to board select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has proved effective for elevated genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using mini theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their community.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate legacy awareness. The potential drawback, as ever, is audience fatigue. The preferred tactic is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is leading with character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a European tilt from a rising filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is known enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and early previews.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that observed windows did not obstruct a parallel release from delivering when the brand was potent. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in PLF. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without pause points.

Creative tendencies and craft

The creative meetings behind this slate telegraph a continued preference for in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel key. Look for trailers that emphasize razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heavier IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the menu of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited teasers that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s AI companion becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak news as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her prickly boss push to survive on a desolate island as the pecking order inverts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting tale that mediates the fear via a little one’s volatile subjective view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: wrapped. Positioning: major-studio and name-above-title haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A comic send-up that riffs on in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fervors. Rating: TBD. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a different family lashed to long-buried horrors. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and primal menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why this year, why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces structure this lineup. First, production that paused or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine bite-size scare clips from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will stack across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The underdog chase continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundcraft, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.